BENTONVILLE -- Circuit Judge Robin Green will allow defense attorneys to have some mental health records for a woman who reported being kidnapped, raped and tortured by a Springdale man.
Brian Post, 48, is charged with attempted capital murder, kidnapping, five counts of rape and first-degree battery. He previously pleaded innocent to the charges.
He was arrested in the May 2015 attack on the woman.
Post was in court Wednesday morning.
Jay Saxton and Kevin Lammers, Post's attorneys, previously requested the woman's mental health records.
Stuart Cearley, chief deputy prosecuting attorney, objected, and the judge reviewed the records.
Green said during Wednesday's hearing that she had looked at hundreds of pages of records, and a handful of the records are relevant, but others may become relevant as the case moves toward trial.
The judge provided the defense attorneys and Cearley with the records she deemed relevant for Post's defense.
Post's jury trial is to begin Feb. 22.
Saxton told the judge that the defense may hire an expert to testify at the trial, but Cearley may object to the person. The attorneys did not discuss during the hearing what kind of expert Saxton planned to hire.
The judge scheduled a hearing for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 10 to determine if the expert witness will be allowed to testify.
The woman was found lying partly clothed in a pool of blood on a bed with severe injuries on her leg May 19, 2015, according to the probable cause affidavit in the case. The woman told police she that believed Post abused and tortured her over a 24-hour period.
The woman told police that while drifting in and out of consciousness during the attack, she heard Post say he would blame her death on her dogs, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Cuts on the woman's leg were consistent with a sharp knife, and no bite marks were found on her body, the affidavit states. Sheriff's office deputies noted that the woman's dogs had no blood on their mouths, according to court documents.
Post is being held on $1 million bond in the Benton County jail.
Metro on 12/22/2016